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Several of the ongoing mysteries on “Castle” are getting closer to being revealed – but will “When will Castle and Beckett hook up?” be one of them?

“This has been a season of secrets,” series’ creator Andrew Marlowe revealed, who promises that revelations are pending in the last several episodes of the season. “Castle and Beckett have been keeping secrets from each other, and as we get to this last run of episodes, the secrets start to come out. And both characters and the characters around them will have to deal with the emotional consequences of it. We’re really looking forward to bringing those episodes to life. We think they’ll be a lot of fun, especially for loyal fans of the show who’ll see those characters tested.”

A number of those tests were unveiled when the cast and creators gathered for a tribute evening at PaleyFest, but as usual the hottest topic among the “Castle” team was Castle and Beckett’s “will they/won’t they?” dynamic.

“I think the challenge for us in the writers’ room is to find reasons for these guys not to be together and struggle with when they should be together,” Marlowe explained. “So we always talk about this as a sweeping love story, and I’m somebody who feels like there will come a moment when the two of them do get together and there’s plenty of storytelling after that, so we just want to be true to who these characters are and make sure in creating obstacles that we’re not repeating ourselves, that they’re natural obstacles and dramatic obstacles…As long we feel we can credibly do that with these characters, we feel incredibly comfortable. And there will come a time where we’ll feel like we can’t credibly keep these characters apart.”

“I think when that time comes, it opens up new opportunities in the storytelling,” added Marlowe, “because when characters are in a relationship they fundamentally act differently and they get on each other’s nerves in different ways, and they’re fun in different ways. So I’m not saying necessarily that if and when they’re together Beckett and Castle can go on a Princess Cruise and solve crimes, but having problems on the other side of that does bring up possibilities. If and when it does happen, the next evolution in their relationship can be just as fun, so I’m not somebody who believes you wait until the end of the series. I’m somebody who believes in the ‘curse of “Moonlighting.”’

“It’s played out very well, I think,” star Nate Fillion told PopcornBiz. “It’s been very tastefully and artfully dealt with, as far as the dance that we’re talking about. But I don’t think it’s something that can be done forever.”

Co-star Stana Katic said she’s not expecting a completely smooth coupling, if it happens. “I feel like any romance has a fantastic honeymoon period at first, but there's also a lot of confusion, like, 'What do you mean by that? What do you mean you don't do this? Do you like this? Am I doing something that's driving you nuts?' There's a lot of those kinds of questions that show up in the beginning of a relationship…I feel like there's a lot of opportunity in that world if we do decide to go down that path.”

While that issue remains up in the air, there is an inspired guest-starring role ahead – another detective – that will reunite Fillion with a former co-star from his cult favorite series “Firefly.”

“Our good friend Adam Baldwin is coming on. He’s this character named Det. Slaughter, and that kind of says it all. I tail him for a little while – he’s working on a case, and it’s not going be the same experience for Castle [as Beckett].”

“There's an episode called 'The Limey' that's quite exciting to me because I get to play with Tamala Jones and we get to see a bit of Beckett's girly, more intimate side,” said Katic. “It's kind of like a Bond-themed episode, because Scotland Yard comes to play with the New York police detectives, and we have a great detective played by Brett Tucker in that episode.”

“Stana and I worked very hard trying to get those real beats and moments that girlfriends really do share in that episode,” added Jones, who says her character Lanie’s personal life will also be up for inspection. “Lanie and Esposito are still seeing each other secretly, but you'll hear about it before you see it. There could be a Castle baby happening between Esposito and Lanie. There are so many directions that you could go. I think it'd be a good thing. I don't think it's a be-careful-what-you-wish-for because we're both sassy, the two of us – Esplanie.”

The ongoing mystery of who’s responsible for the murder of Beckett’s mother will also resurface, said Marlowe. “It is something that we’ll be touching on before the end of the season. And whenever that arises it puts Beckett in a very emotionally raw situation and interesting things happen.”

A second parental conundrum recently surfaced when Castle’s CIA agent ex-flame (Jennifer Beals) broadly hinted that his long-missing father was a member of the Agency. “I think it’s a little mystifying to Castle because he doesn’t know if he can trust what the Sophia character said,” explained Marlowe. “And if your father is in the CIA, how do you find out? But it’s something that we’re going be exploring as we move forward in the series.”

Fillion said he expects that Castle won’t react radically to the information – at least at first. “I was always very comfortable with the fact that Castle never had a dad, so he never experienced the loss or the ‘missing’ part of his life – he’s always had a very full family life,” he said. “He’s not haunted by the absence of a father. But he’s a very curious man, and I think he would eventually want to know about his father.”